HARARE ─ Simon Mann, the alleged British mastermind of a foiled coup, has been extradited to Equatorial Guinea to face trial for a folied coup attempt, after newly-appointed Attorney General, Bharat Patel signed the deportation order knowing that a notice of appeal was being lodged, The Zimbabwe Guardian can reveal.
Jonathan Samkange, one of the lwayers who represented Mann in Zimbabwe confirmed that Mann was extradited on Wednesday night, and there were (state) affidavits to that effect.
"They deported him at night, late on Wednesday night. There are affidavits to that effect," Smakange told journalists.
"The idea was that by the time we filed a notice of appeal he would have gone. This was designed to defeat the notice of our appeal.
"Deporting a person at night is not only mischievous, but unlawful," added the lawyer.
Samkange -- who on Thursday filed an appeal at the Supreme Court against the High Court decision -- said he had only discovered later in the day that Mann had been deported.
Samkange had turned up at court on Friday morning to file papers relating to the final appeal when he was shown documents confirming the deportation order had been already carried out at the behest of acting Attorney General Bharat Patel, who was also one of the judges at the High Court ruling.
"The Attorney General is the one who signed this deportation order. He knew we were filing a notice of appeal but he failed to disclose that they had deported him," said Samkange.
The lawyer said the authorities had deliberately concealed the fact Mann had been moved out of the Chikurubi maximum security prison, near Harare.
"I spoke to the officer in charge of Chikurubi last night and he assured me that he was there."
Accused of plotting to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea, Mann will be considered a high-risk offender, and is at risk of torture and/or life imprisonment in the notorious Black Beach prison.
Bharat Patel, the newly appointed Attorney General who presided over the case, is now the country's acting attorney general and his impartiality becomes questionable after this secret deportation order.
There were concerns and fears from the defence team, and Zimbabwe's legal circles, that Patel represents the state and therefore cannot deliver an impartial judgment. That fear has now become reality after this latest development.
